


Your Mess Is Mine

by Lily_Uzumaki23



Category: Naruto, Naruto (Anime) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Some Humor, blowjob, non-related Uchihas, some plot lol, some porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:53:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27576125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Uzumaki23/pseuds/Lily_Uzumaki23
Summary: They say out of sight equals out of mind and out of heart which is why Itachi thinks it’s best to break things off with his boyfriend before going to college overseas. They also say mind over matter which is why Shisui does not and will not ever at all agree.
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi/Uchiha Shisui
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. The Mess

Shisui stops. He stares, just as Itachi is done talking and chooses the moment to stare as well. 

“You want to break up?” he asks, as if he’d somehow misheard or misunderstood his boyfriend’s words. 

“You heard me, Shisui,” Itachi sighs heavily. “I need to focus on school. Harvard is—”

“A sixteen hour flight away from Tokyo,” Shisui approaches him, invades his personal space even and Itachi finds it ironic since worming his way through people’s lives whether they wanted him to or not was one of many things he was coincidently good at. 

People ended up liking Shisui. Nothing felt as empowering as having someone that lived their life in the moment without a care. There were no limits that existed in his world, no limitations, only a passionate desire and an endless curiosity to get the most out of life before it was over. For someone like Itachi, who had been born and strictly raised to follow the rules and not step even a toe out of line, Shisui was like a gush of fresh air after being underwater for too long. You clung to it, intangible as it was, because you needed it to live, because otherwise you’d drown.

“Please don’t be difficult,” Itachi says and Shisui scoffs a laugh at the absurdity of it all. 

“ _I’m_ being difficult? Your plane leaves in six hours, I come to properly bid you farewell and you’re telling me you want to break up with me. _Now_?” Shisui frowns. “Give me one good reason.”

Itachi stares. “I would only burden you.” 

“Jesus!” Shisui runs a hand through thick and unruly chunks of hair in frustration. “Is that what this is about?” he sputters outraged. 

In their two-year relationship, Shisui thought he had made it clear to his boyfriend just how invested he was in what they had. They had known each other since childhood, his mother deciding to move to Tokyo when he was eight, following the death of his father while he was on active duty during military service. He had been smitten by him from the moment Itachi had gone over to his house with his mother bearing housewarming gifts, even if he had been too young to place the feeling then and had played the fair waiting game as the best friend who would take whatever he could get as they grew older, even knowing that Itachi did not understand the sentiment for what it was enough to return it. Then Itachi had to go and look so sincerely delighted eating the dango Shisui had bought for him at the town festival they had assisted for his 14th birthday, had thanked him with that honest, irresistible smile that made his eyes crinkle and that brightened even the darkest confines of his world and made all wrongs right again, so incredibly touched by such a simple gesture and Shisui, usually composed, had just lost it.

He had leaned into him in a solitary and secluded corner behind the ferris wheel, had kissed him with cotton candy flavored lips, his almond shaped eyes locking into his immediately after, asking for reassurance, his breath held. To his surprise, Itachi with his brilliant, beautiful mind and curious soul, had leaned in for more, giving what he could give at the time, wanting to understand it, wanting to understand him. 

Shisui had stopped him by the shoulder. “Do you want this?” he had asked and Itachi had never wanted anything in his life but trusted Shisui with it the same way he trusted him with everything that he held dear, heart included. If Shisui was changing things between them forever, he trusted him with that too. 

Their second kiss had sealed the deal and they had become immediately committed to each other even knowing that there would be tough battles along the way, like the forced separation their relationship going on two years would be undergoing soon because of the colleges of their choice. Itachi, an exceptional early high school graduate, was being sent to America by his father who was a Harvard School of Law alumni and lived for his son, who was his pride and joy, to follow in his footsteps while Shisui, an unparalleled genius similar to Itachi, would be starting his second year at Tokyo University in Japan.

"I am going to ask you once,” Shisui says, serious, his hand coming up to hold on to the protruding bone of his boyfriend’s hip. “Do you want to break up?”

Itachi searches his face before replying. “Yes.” 

It seemed like the only logical thing to do. Staying together would only be setting each other up for disappointment, the expectations too hard to meet in a future that was nothing but uncertain. In the end, if it was meant to be, they would find their way back to each other, he had no doubt about that.

“Liar,” Shisui leans in, kisses him slowly. “You’re lying,” he whispers heatedly against his lips, kissing him again.

Itachi tries to break free but he is pushed backwards until he feels his back pressed against the nearest wall in his bedroom. He isn’t surprised. He knew Shisui wouldn’t be letting them go down without a fight. Shisui reaches in between them, cups him in his hand through the outside of his pants, his other hand coming up to rest on the wall right next to his face. He traps him with his body, sucks on his earlobe and breathes into the wet patch of skin he leaves underneath it. 

“I’m going to fuck you against this wall,” he whispers into his ear, knowing how it turned him on when he talked like that and Itachi feels his resolve slowly breaking like a crack on glass. His hand closes hard around the wrist of the hand fondling him. “Unless you stop me.”

He doesn’t. 

Truth is, he doesn’t want to. 

When Shisui enters him against the wall, Itachi tightens his legs around his waist at the invasion, the burning sensation as he is stretched hurting so good he can hardly bear it. He can feel Shisui hot and hard inside, pulsating with life and the undulating energy that was so habitual of him, feels him so raw and real that Itachi buries his face in the nape of his neck, hair cascading down his back, he absently wonders how it was that he ever thought to put an end to this at all. 

“Mnn babe,” Shisui locks his penetrating dark eyes in his. “This,” he thrusts a few times for good measure, “this is ours...”

**-**

It is a couple of weeks since Itachi has settled into his new life in Boston. He becomes easily acquainted with the area, the Charles River Esplanade park nearby typically filled with students that have schoolwork spread across their laps and the non-Starbucks cozy coffee shops that have a good selection of tea close to it. Davis Square has an eclectic mix of restaurants, a theater and a museum but the Caspersen Center at the Law School is where he spends most of his time, immersed in hours upon hours of reading, sometimes for research and other times just because. 

His phone had been hacked into with alarms and reminders that ring at random times of the day set up by his boyfriend; one of those things only Shisui would think to do. They prompt him to remember mundane tasks that he was generally not good at keeping up with like eating at the right times of the day and turning off the bathroom light and not forgetting to charge his phone at night and not forgetting his glasses on the nightstand before he went to class in the morning but there are also reminders that read _“I miss you baby”_ and _“I’m thinking about you”_ when he is least expecting them. He doesn’t know what to make of them, just knows that he misses Shisui in an unexpectedly visceral way, yearns for him to be physically here, so gravely it aches somewhere deep and quiet within him. He doesn’t tell him but like most things between them, he knows Shisui knows, just like Shisui never forgets to tell him that he is missed as well. 

The reminders accompany the usual array of text messages that Shisui is used to sending to him on a daily basis. Shisui is a texter first and a caller second, a social media shit-poster always, and a caller first only when it comes to Itachi. Itachi is none but he does placate his boyfriend where technology is concerned, his boyfriend whose brilliant but simple mind never missed tiny details like these, unlike Itachi, whose genius can’t seem to grasp the concept of any of it. 

They soon grow busy with school and being able to coincide on a day and a time to talk to each other becomes increasingly harder to do. Homework, tests and term papers take up a good portion of their time and it results in them missing each other often and forgetting to call back. When they do coincide, there are occasional lapses in conversation where they had nothing new to talk about because their days were pretty much the same as the day before and it seemed like all they had were recycled conversations. Arguing also ensues, sometimes over the simplest things, and their frustration is further fueled by the fact that they are too far from each other to seek or provide what felt like much needed physical comfort as means of reconciliation. There was always a mutual, unspoken understanding that they could reach during intimacy when they had nothing else.

They talk about telling their families of the nature of their relationship, plan to do it over the Christmas break and while they know Shisui’s mother will understand they also know Itachi’s father will more than likely not be tolerant in the least. Shisui wants to talk about the what ifs after delivering the news, Itachi wants to cross that bridge when they get there. While Shisui agrees with Itachi that it is hard to predict a reaction in situations like these, he also would appreciate at least some kind of reassurance from him. Because Shisui would be fighting for them regardless of the consequences and Itachi’s stony silence on the matter makes him question whether Itachi would be willing to do the same?

“You can at least let me know that we both feel the same way about it so I know I’m not just wasting my time here,” Shisui says bitterly over the phone and Itachi is silent on the other end for a moment.

“Will that pacify you?” he finally asks and Shisui lets out a breath, annoyed.

”Forget it.”

The most they manage to do is to agree to disagree and the calls start coming even less after that, avoiding the big white elephant in the room easy to disguise under the pretense of having schoolwork to get to, giving each other space seems more and more like the right thing to do. Text messages during the day start getting delayed responses and the distance starts feeling more than physical for the first time since they had decided to be officially together.

Shisui also finds himself at crossroads in his path to education as he is slowly approaching the point where he must make a decision in regards to a major. Unlike Itachi, who had entered college with “Criminal Justice” printed in nice, clean handwriting next to the “desired major” box of his application, Shisui was an “undecided” major and his application had said just that next to the “desired major” box, scribbled in as neat a hurried chicken scrawl could get. Itachi was the settling-down-with-a-job type, being a defense lawyer at his father’s law firm for years on end was something that was going to happen for him since he had been born; he was adaptable which made routines come more naturally to him. 

Shisui was the think-outside-the-box type and no major seemed unconventional enough to pique his interest. It didn’t help that he effortlessly excelled at everything he tried and once he mastered it to a do-it-in-your-sleep degree, he was ready to move on to the next thing. He had contemplated putting school on hold altogether, the conversation is one he was used to having with his boyfriend all the time, back when college was still but a distant fragment of an idea in their minds. Itachi was not judgmental but he also wasn’t in agreement with him dropping out if he didn’t have other interests that he was intent on pursuing with the freed-up time.

“Can we not do this right now?” Shisui says irritably, tired of thinking and talking about it at this point. “I have this thing I have to go to in like five minutes and I’d rather not be pissed at my boyfriend before I go.”

“Have it your way, Shisui,” Itachi says in that tone that indicates he has reached the end of his patience for the day and it makes Shisui even angrier. 

There are no words of endearment when they hang up, once an exception, it has now become the norm and Shisui absently wonders whether this was what Itachi had been trying to avoid months ago, if this was the reason breaking up had made sense to him then, he was trying to save them from having to go through this unavoidable torture. These unresolved disagreements with no resolution near in sight left them feeling tired and hollow and miserable inside. 

Fall Break comes around and Shisui is at the airport in Boston on a random Wednesday morning, he calls Itachi to see if he can come pick him up or he can just grab a cab if he has class and Itachi is at a loss.

“What are you doing here?” he asks and it is a long and silent pause before Shisui replies. 

“We need to talk,” he says, honest and clear. 

Itachi pictures his boyfriend standing outside of the airport in a dark hoodie and jeans (which he was) with his favorite camo duffle bag by his feet (which he had) waiting for him. He wonders if Shisui is here to end things with him, if he is here so they can do it by mutual agreement, despite his insistence months ago to stay together and work through it. Remorse washes over him because...should _he_ have done better? He knows there is tension between them right now, the arguing _was_ getting tiresome, but it still did not seem like enough to warrant them making the definite decision to go their separate ways to him. He is taken by surprise by how _not-ready_ he really is despite being absolutely sure just months ago. Shisui is sitting next to him, smelling of Shisui, his hair in that perfectly imperfect disarray that seemed to define him, his voice soft and melodious...he was _his lifeline,_ everything he knows and everything he ever wanted to know. A pang of guilt claws at his chest because how could he have forgotten? 

Talk is idle on the ride to his dorm, Shisui is rambling which is what Itachi has learned he does when he is nervous and it further feeds the sense of foreboding that is growing low in his gut. Itachi tries to keep the conversation going but it sounds forced even to himself. 

“Stop the car,” Shisui says suddenly, in the middle of nowhere. 

Itachi glances at him, sees that Shisui is as serious as he is ever going to be about anything in his life, and pulls over. They stare ahead for what feels like hours, an old Mumford song playing indistinctly on the radio. Then Shisui speaks again.

“I’m halfway through loving you for the rest of my life right now and halfway through forgetting you completely,” he sighs, long and exhausted, brings a hand up to massage the heaviness in his eyes away with his fingers. Itachi looks at him, takes in his features in careful detail. Shisui looks tired, his handsome boyish looks are dull, he looks sad and it pains him in a way nothing ever has before.

“I’m sorry,” Itachi says in resignation. “I...miss you,” he admits.

This makes Shisui smile sadly, warmth spreading throughout his entire body. “I miss you too, baby,” he gives him an adoring soft-eyed look. “So much.”

When Shisui enters him in the shower of his dorm room, warm water rushing over them and soaking them to the bone, Itachi remembers. Shisui holds him against the tiled wall, his thrusts are powerful as he breathes into his neck and holds his asscheeks in two handfuls, groans with the strain of how amazing it feels to fuck him like this and Itachi moans in tune because, God, he wanted it too. Itachi tightens his legs around his waist, burying his fingers in Shisui’s unruly hair, he can’t utter words and Shisui locks hooded eyes filled with pleasure in his, goes as deep as he can in him and Itachi furrows his brows, feels himself coming undone. Shisui presses their foreheads together gently, he watches himself entering him over and over and over again, trails of water trickle down his nose and turn to droplets at the tip. He kisses him and Itachi welcomes everything about that particular kiss, the warmth of it making him feel like he was closer to home than he had felt for a long time. 

“I will travel however far I need to, however many times I have to, hell, I will move in with you if that’s what I need to do,” Shisui whispers heatedly. “We can make this work but I need you. I need you, Itachi...”

**End of Chapter 1.** One more chapter to go! I hope you had fun reading this. I had fun writing it; long-distance relationships suck. I ended mine two years back because I honestly couldn’t take it but I do admire couples that manage to make it work, you guys are my heroes. This had been written a while back, actually inspired by my other ShiIta fic called _Standard Lines_ where I brush the topic a little, it got me wondering how it actually would've been for them if they were to go to college and stuff. What inspired me to finish it was the episodes where Shisui started in which I hadn’t watched up until recently. My heart fucking hurts, so damned unfair, I can’t talk about it yet, I haven’t come to terms with how I feel about them. Anyway, I worked on the story to focus on Shisui getting the love he deserves. After watching the episodes I just fell even more in love with his character <3 Next chapter will be out possibly next Sunday (if life doesn’t fuck with me) and it will be mainly focused on solutions and resolutions. It may/may not include an Epilogue. 


	2. Mind Over Matter

They spend the rest of the day getting reacquainted with each other’s bodies until not a body part is left unexplored, anything scheduled for the day forgotten. Shisui succumbs to exhaustion following a powerful orgasm that wrecks through his entire body, the length of the flight and everything thereafter catching up to him, the last he remembers is toppling over on top of Itachi as if he were the mattress and feeling Itachi’s fingers running through his hair and down his back, his eyes and breathing growing heavier and heavier until he had blacked out.

When he wakes up, it is night outside and the smell of food permeates the air. Itachi is sitting next to him on the mattress wearing a dark, long-sleeved sweater and jeans, back against the bed rest with his legs stretched out before him and his socked feet crossed at the ankles. He is reading a book under the faint light that the lamp on the nightstand provides and his hair is tied in a messy bun with square, silver-framed glasses that he is still near blind with resting across the bridge of his nose. 

Shisui stretches under the covers, rolls over to lay on his side facing Itachi, hand peeking from under the sheets to rest on his thigh. 

“How long was I out?” he asks, his voice horse from sleep, he squeezes Itachi’s thigh gently and Itachi looks at the time on the very primitive silver Casio watch that Shisui had gotten for him what feels like a decade ago. 

“Almost 5 hours,” he looks down from his book at him and Shisui smiles. 

“You look happy.”

“I am,” Itachi admits.

“Because I’m here?”

“Yes,” Itachi responds, blunt and aloof and Shisui internally swoons, his heart hammers against his chest. 

“Stop. You’re making me blush,” he buries his face in the pillow with a groan and Itachi returns to his book. 

“I was also able to finish my homework for this month and submit the two papers I had due for Friday,” he adds and Shisui scoffs.

“You say that as if I expected any less from you,” he says nonplussed. 

He reaches for Itachi’s free hand and brings it to his hair for Itachi to do his play-with-it thing he does with it and Itachi would have rolled his eyes if it were in his nature to do. 

“Spoiled,” he mutters as Shisui settles with his head back on the pillow once Itachi starts running his fingers through it and curling and uncurling it. 

“Hey, I spoil you too!” 

Itachi hums noncommittally. “I bought spaghetti and meatballs if you are hungry,” he says, knowing it was Shisui’s favorite Italian dish and proving his point and Shisui releases a heavy breath. 

“I’ll eat in a minute,” he closes his eyes. “Feels good.” 

Shisui would be returning to Japan on Sunday and despite the strong urge to spend the rest of his stay in bed with Itachi, making up for lost times, after getting food in his system, he knows that there are issues they both need to address.

“So let’s talk about it,” he says, sitting cross-legged next to Itachi on the bed dressed in a pair of gray sweats and a light, simple crew-neck shirt. 

“There isn’t much to say,” Itachi closes his book and places it on the nightstand, folded glasses on top. “I know father,” he says. “He will need time to understand, if he ever does, and no amount of tact we use will change that.”

“Okay,” Shisui chooses his next words carefully. “I’ve made my peace with whatever happens, whether that means your whole family resents me for the rest of their life, I’m staying with you and I need you to know that,” he says. “But I also need to know that that’s what you want me to do.”

Itachi stares, taken aback, then sighs and slowly moves across the mattress, makes to sit on his lap with his knees at the sides of his hips and Shisui welcomes him, stretching out his legs, hands coming up to rest on the outside of his thighs. He hugs Shisui around the neck, kisses his temple then cups his face in his hands, leaning back so they could see eye to eye. 

“I would resent my life without you for the sake of keeping my family happy and I never meant for you to question that.” 

“Then-“

Itachi gently presses his thumb against the pink folds before he continues. “ I may be uncertain about what the future will hold and would prefer not to get ahead of ourselves but there has never been a doubt in my mind that you would be a part of it.”

And just like that, all of Shisui’s questions and worries are put to rest. 

“You think such things sometimes,” Itachi says, giving him the what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you look that he often gives him when his thoughts have escaped him and Shisui nuzzles the side of his cheek with his nose.

“I can’t help it,” he whispers. “I’m crazy about you.” 

He lays back, takes Itachi with him and Itachi settles easily between his legs, hovers above him with his elbows at either side of his face. Shisui reaches into his hair and pulls at the hair tie holding it in a bun, the strands lazily cascading from above and cocooning them in. 

“This is hard,” he mutters, his words heavy with sadness. “Being away from you.” 

“We will be okay,” Itachi kisses the side of his forehead. “I know that now.” 

They are quiet for a moment, Shisui’s hands in a world of their own combing through his hair, a distraction he often loses himself into and Itachi brushes his chin with his lips. 

“I will be better about calling,” he says. 

“I will be better too,” Shisui says. “I’ll try not to argue so much.” 

“There is no helping that, unfortunately,” Itachi says then smiles a little. “It means we both care.” 

“And here I thought I was the only one whipped,” Shisui smiles too, brushes the side of his face with the back of his fingers. 

“If by “whipped” you mean foolishly in love, I suppose I am too,” Itachi says, again so honest and straightforward that Shisui feels his heart skip a beat and he suppresses the undignifying noise akin to a squeal threatening to spill out, covers his eyes with the heels of his hands before he speaks. 

“You really don’t know what you do to me,” he whispers and Itachi kisses him then sits up to pull his sweater over his head, the sight of him bare chested with his nipples slightly perked, his hair tousled in a wild mess and his eyes heavy-lidded staring down at him, lips slightly parted and porcelain skin flushed gets Shisui’s undivided attention. 

“Show me,” Itachi says, tossing the sweater somewhere over his shoulder and Shisui doesn’t need more than that. 

When he enters him from behind, Itachi moans softly, he leans slightly to hold on to the bed railings and Shisui embraces him with his arm across his chest, forces his body to meet his thrusts while he buries his nose in the crook of his neck, taking in his strong, virile scent that drives this intense and wild need for him he can never control. His other arm circles his hip, his hand fondles his sac before it closes around his shaft, he strokes him at the same time he thrusts into him and Itachi holds on to the arm across his body, tightens his grip because it feels too good, his mouth slack open in ecstasy. 

“Having you like this,” Shisui whispers hotly against his ear, jerks him off with languid strokes, “getting to do this to you,” he enters him hard, as deep in him as he can go, knocks the breath out of him. “Mnn...fuck Itachi....this isn’t even the best part about it.” 

Itachi’s head rolls back to rest against his shoulder as Shisui sets a slow pace, going deep in him and Shisui rolls his nipple in between nimble fingers, sucks hard at the perfect curvature of his neck exposed to him and tosses modesty out the window, even when he knows Itachi will probably have something to say of the mark he probably left later. 

“I get to have your mind, your heart,” Shisui groans against the skin at the onslaught of unadulterated pleasure. “I’m the only one that gets to see you.”

Not under the vilest methods of torture would Itachi ever admit out loud that he was a sap at heart but Shisui _knows._ He knows his boyfriend comes undone when he whispers endearments like these and he saves them for this moment because he knows it is when Itachi is most vulnerable and open to him, he knows they get through to him the way he intends them to. It becomes as clear as day to Shisui then that this was it. He would never feel for anybody how he felt for this man. Itachi was where he started and he is where he ends.

Itachi is soon tensing against him, arching his back as spurt after spurt ooze from the slit of his cock in thick, white streams, he groans Shisui’s name and it does him in. If there was a heaven on earth, this was it.

-

In an attempt to remedy some of Shisui’s jet lag, they draw a bath (“no funny business” Shisui promises, wrong hand on heart) to help with relaxation. Itachi sits against the edge of the tub with Shisui in between his legs, warm water infused with aromatherapy oils and soap coming up to just below their chests.

“Have you thought about it?” Itachi asks as they fall into easy conversation regarding majors.

“Not really,” Shisui admits. “I should try the law thing,” he jokes but Itachi actually considers it. 

“You should,” he suggests, pouring water over his bare back with the shower bowl and spreading soap on the skin. “We do share a similar sense of justice.”

“We do,” Shisui closes his eyes as Itachi starts to scrub and massage away. “Baby?”

“Mm?” Itachi leans his head over his shoulder and Shisui leans in for a brief kiss. 

“Marry me.”

Itachi does not immediately react, he returns to washing his back as if he had not heard him and Shisui is quiet, for a moment he thinks he is not getting a response. 

Then Itachi says, “when we finish school, we can talk about it.” 

And to Shisui, it is far more than he had hoped for. He smiles, lets out a long, contented breath. 

“I’ll take on your last name,” he says. “And we’ll have old married couple pajamas with our initials engraved on them.” 

Itachi has a class early next morning and it takes all of the willpower he was not aware he lacked to pry himself away from his boyfriend, not that Shisui made it any easier, spooning him with his arm around his chest, his other arm bent and working as a makeshift pillow for his head, breathing softly against his neck and enveloping in a cocoon of warmth and comfort extremely difficult to get out of. With what little time he has to spare before his day has to officially begin, Itachi rolls over and takes a moment to take in his boyfriend’s features, muses over how calm and peaceful he looks while he sleeps compared to how raw and intense he is otherwise. He thinks about his proposition and his chest feels tight with so many emotions it is hard to place one in particular. He had always known that Shisui was his end all, be all person, Itachi would never want this with anybody else, he knew his answer even if what the future had in store for them sometimes made him question it. 

Shisui was his perfect balance, leveled him in every aspect of who he was and the thought was frightening and relieving at the same time. Because Itachi had never depended on anybody and having so much of his fate bound to any one person was not something he allowed himself, he was used to keeping even the most important people in his life at bay. The fact that it _was_ Shisui made him feel calm and safe and like it would be okay to do so, Shisui who had flown halfway across the world just to be with him and would no doubt stick with him to the end of the world too.

He goes to class mulling over the concept, tries to rationalize the sentiment tied to it like he often does with everything else and he can hear Shisui’s voice echoing in his head during what had been one of their bedroom conversations, interrupting his train of thoughts.

_“Feelings don’t need to be reasoned, Itachi. They are meant to be felt.”_

When he returns from class, he finds Shisui sitting in bed, cross legged with his back against the wall, headphones in and fully engrossed in Itachi’s “Civil Procedures” book. Itachi arches a brow from the door and Shisui notices him, he puts the book down and takes an earbud out. 

“Hey,” he greets, watching as Itachi sets his messenger bag on the desk. 

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Itachi says. 

“You didn’t. I was just about to take a break from the class action lawsuit against the agrochemical company. It's a long case,” Shisui crawls out of bed. 

They kiss and Itachi looks at the book behind him before returning to Shisui. “Do you think the agrochemical company will reach a settlement?” he asks. 

“Probably,” Shisui says, running his fingers through Itachi’s inky strands of hair and watching them trickle between his fingers. “Even when the deposition of four different witnesses clearly showed that they suffered major health complications due to the agrochemical company having their stuff in the water.” 

“If you go to law school you can prevent companies like these from reaching settlements and actually have them pay for the damage they cause,” Itachi says and Shisui smirks, leans in to kiss him again. 

“You make a strong case.” 

-

They try to keep the thought that they would have to part ways again soon at the back of their minds and focus on enjoying each other’s company much like they were used to before college became a part of their lives. Sunday still comes faster than they are prepared for. They do the customary rundown to make sure Shisui has packed everything, after that, the mood in the room is quiet and inevitably somber. Shisui had decided to call a taxi so they didn’t have to do “the airport thing” and Itachi knows how to maneuver the odd idiosyncrasies his boyfriend adopts, especially when he is in a mood, with expert dexterity at this point; he asks no questions. Nothing can help the hollowness in their stomachs or the painful tightness in their chests at the thought of being away from each other for months at a time again. 

Shisui wonders whether coming here at all had been a good idea. Parting ways the first time had been hard enough and he honestly wasn’t sure how he would fare being away from Itachi again. The taxi arrives and they walk to the door together, Shisui’s camo duffel bag packed and ready by it. Shisui grabs the bag with a sigh, turns to Itachi and leans in to kiss him then gently presses their foreheads together. 

“I love you,” he kisses him again. “Thank you for being patient with me.” 

“I love you too,” Itachi says, giving him one of his guarded but honest smiles. 

Shisui tightens his grip on the handle of his bag wanting so badly to do the complete opposite of what he has to do. He shuts his eyes, pulls away and turns around, opens the door. 

“I’ll call you when I get to the airport.” Without a look back, he is gone. 

Itachi stares at the door, the room suddenly feeling too big and too cold and too quiet and too...empty. He reaches forward to lock it and his hand gets knocked away by the door opening again. Shisui stands before him, giving him the unmistakable look he often gives him when he does something without thinking, Itachi knows, because he is subjected to that look much more often than he would like. 

“I can’t do it,” Shisui lets out a heavy breath, running a hand through unruly locks of hair anxiously. “Don’t freak out,” he pushes past him and enters the room again, drops his bag at his feet. “I’ll call the school and transfer my classes and I’ll take the entrance exam if I need to. Mother will have to ship some of my stuff...” his rambling goes on and on and he is pacing like a mad person. Itachi watches from his post, not sure how to digest it all. Then Shisui stops and stares at him point blank. 

“We’ll need to get an apartment with an actual kitchen.” 

Itachi blinks once. “Okay.” 

-

They return to Japan together for Christmas break and decide to speak to Shisui’s mother first who had known all along but was happy that they felt comfortable enough to come out with it finally and appreciative of their honesty. They move to approach the subject with the head of the Uchiha family at the customary Christmas dinner that was held at the home every year since Shisui had been eight. Closed off in a secluded room, they can hear the festivities taking place outside and they take their seats on the floor, Fugaku at the head and Itachi and Shisui next to each other before him. Both of them kneel before Fugaku with their foreheads almost touching the floor while Itachi confesses to him about what they are to each other and also what their future plans are.

After a moment of silence, Fugaku finally speaks. “You are fools,” he says, clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Sit up, both of you.” 

Both Itachi and Shisui do as they are told and are surprised to find a calm, calculating expression on Fugaku’s face as he stares, first at Itachi then at Shisui, then at Itachi again. 

“Marriage is not easy and I would advise against it, not because you are considering it with a man, but because you are both young and bound to make mistakes that could end up destroying it sooner than if you had given your relationship time to mature so it will withstand a long time commitment,” he says sternly. “I would also advise that you have your personal goals in order prior to going through with it. Once you marry, you must think of the other when you are making decisions and I assure you, there will be plenty of occasions throughout your path together where you will have to sacrifice certain things for the sake of the other, out of commitment to each other but also out of love,” he finishes and they both feel like a log is stuck in their throat. 

“Now, if I may have a word with Shisui-kun,” he locks eyes with Shisui. “Alone.” 

The room suddenly feels like it dropped in temperature a couple of significant degrees and Shisui blanches and swallows with difficulty, stares at Itachi from the corner of his eye. 

Itachi sighs. “As you wish father,” he says, not helping and Shisui feels small under Fugaku’s gaze. Before he exits the room, Itachi bends over and kisses the top of his head. 

“It’ll be okay.” 

He really wished he could feel reassured by that but is not, not at all. He stares as Itachi exits the room, watches as he slides the door closed behind him, almost wanting to reach out to him. 

“Shisui-kun,” Fugaku calls in a steely tone and Shisui’s reaction is immediate. He turns back to Fugaku almost snapping his neck in two. 

“Sir,” he bows his head. 

“Enough with the formalities,” Fugaku orders and Shisui straightens in his post.

“Yessir,” he mutters flustered. Fugaku clears his throat before he begins. 

“I hope you are not under the delusion that I was at any point fooled about the true nature of your relationship with my son,” he says. 

“It never crossed my mind sir,” Shisui croaks, mouth suddenly dry and Fugaku gives him a firm look. 

“Good,” he starts slow-pacing before him, lion-like, and Shisui can feel cold sweat building up at his hairline. “I set out to raise both of my sons well so they could lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Granted, I was not expecting either of them to choose a man to spend the rest of their lives with, the news is quite shocking and will take time to process, but I trust their judgement and Itachi has never given me a reason not to, otherwise,” he says and Shisui nods in agreement. 

“We have always welcomed you into our family and that will not change-“ 

He is relieved to hear that. 

“But you must also understand that there are higher demands I will expect you to meet since you are involved with my son in other ways besides just a regular friendship and are interested in pursuing a marriage with him-“ 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Fugaku-san,” Shisui cuts in with more confidence than he really actually feels. “But if you are wondering about what I will be bringing to the table, you can rest assured Itachi will be taken care of.” 

Fugaku nods. “I expect no less, in all respects. You see, Itachi has always been a highly independent and self-sufficient child. There was never much I, as his father, could contribute to all aspects of his life. I am also aware that he feels very strongly and deeply, despite his outer demeanor.” 

“Is this the part where you tell me not to break his heart or you’ll have my balls, sir?” Shisui asks, feeling bolder and Fugaku locks eyes with him. 

“Correct.” 

-

Shisui finds Itachi by one of the balconies of the home, staring out into the night. He takes a moment to indulge in the sight. Itachi looks at peace and it makes him calm too. The outcome of coming out to their families had been better than they could have accounted for and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. When he joins him, he kisses the side of his forehead then looks out into the night as well.

“Little Sasuke is getting big.” 

“He is doing well in school,” Itachi says, unable to contain his pride. “He showed me his report card.” 

“Did he now?” Shisui smiles, knowing how important his kid brother is to his boyfriend. “I’m surprised I’m even getting two minutes alone with you. I thought he’d be glued to your hip.” 

“He is twelve now, Shisui,” Itachi reminds him and Shisui sighs. 

“Yeah, don’t I feel old?”

Several minutes go by in comfortable silence, just them appreciating the moment in time.

“We’ll be okay,” Shisui says and Itachi leans into him.   
  


“We will be.”  
  


They say out of sight equals out of mind and out of heart. But then the mind wins over the matter and “what they say” is no longer important.

**The End.** Thank you for reading! I really enjoyed writing this and hope I can write more soon and in the future. Feedback and kudos would be lovely and greatly appreciated. I always respond, it may take me some time but I definitely will always get back to you. Also, and this is just a side note, I had a hard time deciding what Fugaku’s reaction would be. The alternate scene was him obviously being frustrated and not understanding BUT I recently watched the Shisui episodes (yes, I skipped to them!) and just before Itachi kills his parents, Fugaku’s last words were understanding of his decision and letting him know that he was proud of him no matter what despite being a hardass all along. SO that’s why in the end I decided for him to be the way he was regarding Itachi’s confession. An epilogue may still be in the works! It could take a little bit to write because I have the idea but haven’t drafted it out. Thank you to all who enjoyed this read. I’m glad it was worth your time :) 


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